On the Road to the Reformation: Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Solus Christus

Transcription

1 On the Rad t the Refrmatin: Sla Gratia, Sla Fide, Sla Scriptura, Slus Christus WELS Western Wiscnsin District Pastr/Teacher Cnference June 5-6, 2017 Watertwn, Wiscnsin Nte: All the presentatins and reprts can be fund at the Western WI District website: G t Prceedings and fllw the link fr 2017 District Cnference. Sunday, June 4 7:00-9:00 PM Registratin at LPS gymnasium Mnday, June 5 7:00-8:30 Breakfast 7:00-9:00 AM Registratin at LPS gymnasium 9:00 Call t Order and Opening Prayer District President Pastr Michael Jensen 9:05 Epitme f the Frmula f Cncrd Pastr Ry Hefti Pastr Hefti presented pages 1 t :10 Western Wiscnsin District Celebratin f Refrmatin 2017 Pastr Rich Lehmann Please refer t the WWD Wrship cmmittee reprt. A reslutin will be cming t recmmend a percentage divisin f the Refrmatin 500 wrship ffering. The ffering will be divided between the WWD Schlarship Fund and the Wartburg Prject. New psters are printed and available. Pick up tw at the table in the entry. Please cnsider renting cach busses frm yur area. Parking is $7/car. Cntact the Refrmatin 500 cmmittee fr pssible subsidy t help pay fr the cach. 10:20 Dismiss fr service 10:30 Divine Service with Hly Cmmunin Pastr Jerry Ewings, Lrd f Lve Lutheran, De Frest, WI The wrship ffering ttaled $1,237 12:00 Lunch 1:15 Call t Order Pastr Jensen 1:15 Devtin Pastr Ken Ewerdt, St. Paul s Lutheran, Ixnia, WI Pres. Jensen thanked Pastr Ewerdt, as well as everyne invlved in the mrning wrship service. 1:30 Epitme f the Frmula f Cncrd Pastr Ry Hefti Pastr Hefti presented pages :35 Cmmissin n Lutheran Schls Principal Fred Uttech Please see the WWD Schls Crdinatr reprt. Mike Wieting, ne f ur schl cunselrs, accepted a Call and is mving t the NW District Fr the first time in several years, a district wide teachers cnference will be held at Tmah, Feb , :45 Wrld Missins Pastr Larry Schlmer Pastr Schlmer presented his reprt. Multi-language publicatins Academia Crist Wrld seminaries Grwing number f cnfessinal Lutherans versees Nrth America: 1,300 cngregatins Overseas missins: 700 cngregatins

2 Pastrs: 400, plus anther 400 in training Frward in Christ Wrld Missins editin will be available thrugh the end f June. Wels.net/missins G see what s happening! This presentatin is available t cngregatins t shw. Yu can find it at wels.net. 2:55 India Missin Wrk Here are sme highlights frm the PwerPint presentatin: Traditin says Thmas went t India. Father Heyer (MN Synd) began wrk in India in The LCMS did sme wrk in millin Indians are Christians. Mst are Hindu. Christ Ev. Lutheran Ministries is the name f ur missin. 150 cngregatins 3500 cmmunicants 54 trained pastrs and evangelists 19 in training Gals: Training Publishing in Hindi and Telugu Build wrship facilities Christian Aid and Relief ffers grants (ex: wells, incubatrs) 175 children cared fr in 6 hmes Gentle Shepherd Lutheran Schl in Guntur 3:05 Break 3:15 Epitme f the Frmula f Cncrd Pastr Ry Hefti Pastr Hefti presented pages A Mtin was made, secnded and passed t accept and thank essayist. 4:20 District Reprts (evangelism, missin bard, special ministries, area Lutheran high schls) Evangelism: Pastr Je Fricke summarized his written reprt. District Missin Bard/WELS Hme Missins: Pastr Paul Schupmann presented a PwerPint presentatin which accmpanied the written reprt. Special Ministries: Pastr Bb Wassermann summarized the cmmittee s wrk. A Special Ministries Directry is available with the cnference reprts. Area Lutheran High Schls Lakeside Lutheran High Schl: Mr. Jim Grasby Luther High Schl: Rev. Jn Bilitz Nrthland Lutheran High Schl: Mr. Ryan Wiechmann 5:15 Clsing Devtin Pastr Dnald Swartz, Mt. Olive Lutheran, Mnre, WI 5:30-6:30 Supper Evening Gemuetlichkeit arranged by LPS Tuesday, June 6 7:00-8:15 Breakfast 8:30 Call t Order Pastr Jensen 8:30 Opening Devtin Pastr Shaun Arndt, Gd Shepherd Lutheran, Hlmen, WI 8:45 District President s Reprt Pastr Michael Jensen, Western Wiscnsin District President

3 The District President s reprt was accepted with n discussin r questins. 9:00 Syndical Reprts 9:00 WELS Presidium President Mark Schreder Pres. Schreder greeting ur cnference with the wrds f Philippians 1, thanking us fr the partnership in the gspel that we share. Pres. Schreder ffered infrmatin regarding the upcming Synd Cnventin. The Cnventin theme and title f the lng range plan is Our Great Heritage. The essay, Our Great Heritage, will be presented by Prf. Jhn Brenner. We ll have the jy f declaring fellwship with the fllwing church bdies: East Asia Lutheran Synd; Suth Asian Lutheran Ev. Missin (SALEM); Lutheran Church f Ethipia. Special reprts: Review f the Ministry f Christian Giving; Translatin Liaisn Cmmittee; Cmpensatin Review Cmmittee (including a bible study) We lk frward t receiving greetings frm Ev. Lutheran Free Church f Germany (ELFK). The Financial Plan fr the next biennium will be presented. Jint Statement Regarding Terminatin f Fellwship. This dcument resulted frm ELS, WELS and CLC discussins. The dcument was apprved by the ELS last summer. The CICR is recmmending we adpt the dcument at this summer s cnventin. The CLC deferred it t their pastrs fr their review and study and will take it up again next summer. The pastral vacancy rate is at 6-8%. This is nt at a crisis pint until ver 10%. Yet, it des ffer the reminder t encurage and recruit fr ministry. Questin: Nw that the Synd debt is retired and the $1.6 millin is n lnger used fr debt repayment, sme f the $1.6 millin shuld be used t help with current student debt r prevent future debt. Since 2009, student debt is at $16.9 millin (Synd debt was at $22.4 millin at that time.) While the CMO remains flat and the budgeted supprt als remains flat, graduates average $20,000 in debt. Answer: The $1.6 millin has been used in much the same way a husehld might use mrtgage mney. Once the mrtgage is paid ff, the extra ften gets diverted t ther needs as they arise. The $1.6 millin is nt just extra mney, but is still used t maintain current ministry, and allw fr limited expansin f ur ministry. Check ut the unfunded sectins f the fiscal plan. We want t wrk n increased funding fr ur schls. MLC is als wrking n finding ways t help with tuitin csts. Questin: When a graduate is assigned, the cngregatin r schl ften sees a savings frm previus wrker wages due t less years f experience. Can cngregatins be encuraged t use that savings t help their new wrkers relieve their debt? Answer: That s a gd idea and we will add it t the Cnference f Presidents meeting agenda. 9:10 Syndical Cuncil Mr. Art Tessmann The reprt was presented by Mr. Tdd Pppe. The CMO remains flat, but WELS remains viable. The budget is balanced. Mr. Pppe prvided a review f the purpse and functin f the Financial Stabilizatin Fund. $1.7 millin annually is set aside fr capital prjects. 9:20 Cmpensatin Cmmittee Principal James Meller Mr. Meller referred us t page 100 in the BRaM. When it cmes t the cmpensatin f ur wrkers, he encuraged us t remember these three wrds: prayerfully, carefully and thughtfully.

4 The appendices t the reprt cntain a Bible study t be used when setting a wrker s cmpensatin. After summarizing the philsphy and cmpnents f the cmpensatin plan, Mr. Meller intrduced the cmpensatin plan wrksheet. This wrksheet can be fund at wels.net. Remember, this is the last step, nt the first step in setting the wrker s salary. The cmpensatin cmmittee will be asking fr cnventin apprval f the guidelines and cmpnents. 9:30 Ministerial Educatin President Matthew Crass Pres. Crass began his reprt by recgnizing Prf. Rger Kbleske. He is retiring this year. He s als been ur cnventin and cnference crdinatr fr the past 22 years. We thanked him fr his years f service t ur district. Pres. Crass then summarized the schl reprts. One item f special nte is LPS s entrance int the WI Parental Chice prgram. All 43 applicants fr this year are WELS students. 9:40 Christian Giving Pastr Kurt Lueneburg We were directed t pages in the BRaM. Pastr Lueneburg used his PwerPint presentatin t summarize the reprt. 9:50 Refrmatin 500/NPH Pastr Jhn Braun A number f handuts and cards were prvided. Pastr Braun s reprt described the fllwing resurces: New NPH website Histry materials Updated Small Catechism and cmpanin resurces EHV New Testament and Psalms is available Refrmatin 500 resurces: Return t Grace and cmpanin Bible study. Refrmatin: Grace, Faith, Scripture Luther Then Lutherans Tday (fr children) Gd s Plan fr Luther and Me (als fr children) Outreach resurces Simple way t Pray Christmas kit We were encuraged frm the flr t g and see the mvie, Return t Grace, as well as read Jhn Braun s bk: Luther s Prtest. 10:05 Hymnal Prject Pastr Jn Bauer The first Lutheran hymnal was published in That became the reasn fr the initial 2024 target date fr a new hymnal. Cngregatinal testing is being dne in the fllwing areas: lectinary; technlgy; psalmdy (bth fr inclusin in the hymnal, plus a stand-alne vlume); hymndy and rites. (The main service prpsed fr the hymnal will be used next week at the WELS Wrship Cnference.) Frward in Christ will publish a hymndy series frm July 2017 thrugh March The hymn list will be n the website. Over 1000 public submissins have been received! June 30 is the deadline t ffer submissins. The current gal is t have the new hymnal and its resurces available fr Advent 2021.

5 Pastr Bauer elabrated n the system used fr determining hw and which hymns wuld be cut. The gal fr this hymnal is t have a single set f lessns fr each Sunday. The cmmittee is wrking t find a balance between prphecy (CW lectinary) vs narrative (CWS lectinary) fr the first lessns. Each lessn will strive t have cntent and length that is preachable. 10:15 Campus Ministry Pastr Jn Bilitz. Pastr Bilitz will be installed n June 18. Pastr Trapp will retire n June 25. A farewell will be held at Eastside at 12:30 pm. Register fr the dinner at wlchapel.rg There are many part time campus ministries acrss ur district. If pssible, please include a cell number with any students submitted t Campus Ministries. Texting seems t be the best way t reach them. 10:25 Break 10:40 Reprts Wartburg Prject Pastr Jhn Brug Prf. Brug encuraged us t regularly check Wartburgprject.cm. There is a majr study psted each mnth. He then summarized sme f the experiences and peple invlved in the prject. District Schlarship Fund Pastr Galen Riediger Applicatins can nce again be fund at the district website, The deadline t apply fr the schl year is Octber 15, District Supprt Pastr Jerry Ewings The Supprt cmmittee reprt can be fund n pages in the BRaM.. The reslutin fr the ffering t be taken at the Octber 29, 2017 WW District Refrmatin Service was presented. Pastr Ewings then mved fr adptin. There was a secnd frm the flr. The reslutin passed. WLCFS Dan Nmmensen Pastr Jim Mattek presented the reprt. Cunseling hurs are increasing by 50% each year. If yu knw f a master s level cunselr in ur WELS fellwship, please let WLCFS knw. The Member Assistance Prgram (MAP) is available t cngregatins t ffer cunseling t members in need. Wiscnsin Lutheran Institutinal Ministries (WLIM) : Pastr Phil Henselin Pastr Henselin highlighted the secnd page f his reprt. WILM is als beginning wrk with thse suffering frm PTSD. Lutheran Military Supprt Grup (LMSG): Prf. em Erik Opsahl Prf. Opsahl cncluded ur cnference with his Pwer Pint reprt. 11:45 Cnference Clsing Devtin Pastr Brett Brauer, Trinity Lutheran, Watertwn, WI